YouTube Shopping Ads Debut In Time For The Holidays
YouTube Shopping Ads Debut In Time For The Holidays
YouTube on Tuesday launched Shopping ads on its home feed and in search results, following its efforts during the past year to make the platform more shoppable and extend the reach of Shopping campaigns.
Now when shoppers browse on the YouTube home and search pages, they may see a carousel of images with product offerings from merchants like PUMA, based on their shopping interests.
Marketers using standard Shopping campaign that have opted into YouTube on Display Network are eligible for this ad unit, wrote Nicky Rettke, director of product manager for YouTube Ads.
The move is part of a larger shopping strategy that Google announced at Marketing Live in May. Nearly two-thirds of shoppers say online video inspires then and provides ideas for purchases. Some 48% of shoppers say they are open to buying from retailers they have not purchased from in the past, especially during the holiday season.
Consumers increasingly turn to YouTube for inspiration and to search for new brands, products and services. Once consumers discover the items, they now have an option to purchase them from the platform.
YouTube video ads have become more interactive, giving viewers information like store location, interest forms and additional calls-to-action to help brands drive conversions. In the coming months, sitelink extensions will become available for TrueView for action ads.
This should make it easier for site visitors to navigate additional landing pages such as holiday catalogs and store hours. In a beta test with 30 advertisers, adding sitelinks showed a 23% increase in conversions, according to Google.
Tettke also announced that Showcase Shopping ads are expanding to Google Images. When people search for broader terms such as “holiday party dresses,” they will see Showcase Shopping ads that group together related products.
On average, Tettke said, Google sees about 85% of traffic from Showcase Shopping ads to retailer web sites from new visitors. These ads are expanding into new search categories including beauty and electronics. In the past, they were available mainly for apparel and furniture-related searches.
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